


The Couple Challenge

by praecipula19



Category: BLACKPINK (Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-15
Updated: 2018-10-19
Packaged: 2019-04-23 07:22:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14327454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/praecipula19/pseuds/praecipula19
Summary: In which Jennie has to participate in the Couple Challenge with Taehyung from BTS. This entails meeting everyday to complete a challenge from their fans. This might seem easy for other people but from a socially constipated person like her, she was literally staring at her most terrifying dream.





	1. The Chosen One

"Will this help us?"

Jennie asked the question as calm as she could. Her hands shook a little and she saw her President glancing at it. She pretended to flick some unknown dirt from her newly bought Gucci skirt to cover up her raging emotion.

YG leaned back at his ridiculously expensive chair. He stopped staring at Jennie enough to shuffle through the mess in his desk. The silence that followed her question was already answer enough.

"Will I be given preparation time at least?" Jennie asked again, face devoid of any emotion.

YG didn't looked up from the file he started reading. "Why would you need any preparation time? You ready yourself and do your best for each challenge with whoever your partner will be."

Jennie suppressed rolling her eyes. "Of course." She stood up and dusted her skirt again. Clasping her hand together politely, she bowed he head and spoke softly. "Will there be anything you'd require of me?"

This time, YG blatantly gestured the door with a flick of his hand. "Don't embarrass your group. Try to unfreeze your expression more and act like a lovable girl for once."

Her expression was tight when she turned towards the door sharply. The tiny click of the door behind her prompted her to bang her head against the wall. The pain was nothing compared to the impending doom she could feel a miles away. The day started bad enough with Rosè clogging their bathroom, she should have known it would not get better with YG's sudden call.

"Hey, what's up?" a female voice called.

Jennie turned to the source of it and saw her senior, Park Bom's curious face staring at her. "You alright?" Bom asked again, stepping closer. "You look really pale or is it because you're not wearing any make-up? I do hope you hid yourself well while coming here barefaced. I can see a remnant of breakouts in your chin."

"I wore a mask." Jennie couldn't help her defensive tone. "Anyway, getting caught barefaced is the least of my worry today."

"Why?" Bom glanced towards YG's closed door. "He called for you?"

"Yeah." Jennie scrunched her nose. "Apparently, I was chosen to enter in The Couple Challenge next month."

Bom's expression shifted from concern to bitter regret. "At least you'll have semi-permanent show."

Jennie felt a pang of discomfort and quickly schooled her face once more. "I'm sorry, Unni--"

"Don't be sorry." Bom cut her off sharply. "I still have lots of fight you know."

"I know, Unnie." Jennie wanted to wrap her hands around her senior's frail body, noticing just how much Bom lost weight for the past months she had been on hiatus. She wanted to express in her touch just how much she yearns for Bom to snap back like she used to but if there was anything YG taught its trainee, it was too avoid skin ships as much as possible.

Bom smiled at her tightly. "You should just enjoy the show. You're still young. Maybe you'll fall in love with your partner."

Jennie scoffed. "Yeah right. Men are pigs."

"Except your angel?"

The statement caused Jennie to redden. "Stop it, Unnie."

Bom chuckled and patted her back lightly. "Goodluck."

"Goodluck too." Jennie said, and then deciding reservations could go fuck themselves, gave her senior a brief hug. "I am rooting for you."

She watched Bom's figure enter their president's office before quickly walking away. She pulled out her mask from her bag and put it on. It was only 12:40 o'clock in the afternoon, too early to come home and truth be told, Jennie wasn't really looking forward to the amount of teasing she'd be subjected to from her fellow groupmates. She could almost visualize Lisa's cackle when she hears the news. Or if her groupmates haven't already caught a whiff of the news.

Sighing, Jennie decided to burn time by walking around the block. She walked the familiar steps towards her favorite coffee shop and grabbed some matcha frappe that she didn't plan on drinking. She then sat beside the glass panel and got prepared to watch the people milling around.

This was one of her favorite past time other than reading or playing games. She loved to observe people in their usual days and guess what their worries for the day was based on their facial expressions and actions.

There was one woman, glancing repeatedly at her phone then looking around anxiously. Must be waiting for a friend or lover who was unacceptably late.

Then there was a middle-aged man who was patting his back pocket in panic. Must have lost his wallet.

Jennie played with her matcha frappe languidly while looking at every people's face. She was about to take the lip off her matcha to eat the whip cream when her sharp eyes caught a familiar face amongst the crowd.

There was no way in hell.

Squinting her eyes, Jennie stared at the face intensely. She had seen him a thousand times. Beside the love of her life, nonetheless. Jennie eyed the unmistakable famous Jeon Jungkook, walking aimlessly around a crowd who didn't recognize him one bit. She exhaled in disbelief. How could not anyone recognize this overly popular man who probably doesn't need to go to various variety shows anymore?

Jennie didn't notice she was staring too much at Jungkook until the man entered her coffee shop (yes, she lay a claim on this) and their eyes met. Jungkook must have noticed her creepy stare. Jennie quickly averted her eyes away.

She covered her frappe in hurry, eager to leave the shop. She took out her phone and started fiddling with it in hope of appearing more inconspicuous when a hand suddenly covered her screen. Jennie was ashamed to admit she let out a very girly squeal.

"The fuck?" she gasped, hands protectively snatching her phone away. "You doing?" She added lamely when she saw it was only Jungkook standing above her with a cup of coffee.

"Hello." Jungkook smiled at her warmly. "I couldn't help but notice you were staring at me."

"Of course I am. You're Jeon Jungkook and you're in the middle of the street." Jennie couldn't help the small accusation in her voice, making the younger man smile sheepishly.

"Yeah about that. I'm going to actually ask you don't text your friends and tell them I'm here because I really only wanted a coffee. And I didn't get any sleep last night so I'm really hoping I make it back to dorm without any drama."

Jennie froze. "You thought I was gonna send a text to my friends about your location?"

Jungkook rub the back of his head awkwardly. "Am I being too paranoid?"

"Yes." Jennie rolled her eyes. "I was surprised to see another idol loitering around."

"Another idol?" Jungkook titled his head curiously, making Jennie realize just how young the boy was with his child-like innocence.

"I'm Jennie by the way." She tried to smile then realized she still had her mask on, tugged it down up to her chin. "From Blackpink?"

"Oh." Jungkook stared at her face. "Boombayah."

Jennie snorted. "Yes. That."

"W-What are you doing outside?" Jungkook stammered.

"To buy coffee, just like you. Anyway," Jennie tugged her mask back and stood up. "It was nice seeing you again."

"We met before?" Jungkook stood up too, his eyes searching her face.

Jennie nodded. "When you were still trainee? You were with your band mate, Park Jimin. We went to the same drama class for 6 sessions."

Jungkook's face flushed. "I thought you wouldn't remember me."

There was no way she would be able to forget them. Jennie shrugged in feigned nonchalance. "Anyway, I'll just leave you to your coffee. Have a nice day, Jungkook."

"Do you want me to walk you?" Jungkook suddenly blurted out.

"It's fine." Jennie's eyes flashed in surprise. "I'm taking the bus there."

"Then let me walk you to the bus." Jungkook said firmly. Seeing no harm in it, Jennie agreed. They walked around the block in silence. She looked at people's expression, gauging whether they'll notice Jungkook walking beside her but they were all busy. Each of them has their own lives and conflicts to deal with, much important than seeing two idols on the street.

Jennie glanced at Jungkook in the corner of her eyes. The last time she saw him was on MMA awards last month. He was with his bandmates. That was as far as Jennie could remember of him because her eyes were glued to that one person all night.

"This is it." Jennie said. "I'll take the bus from here."

"Have a safe trip." Jungkook said, then a shook his head slightly. "Still couldn't believe I bump into you. And you're taking the bus dressed in Gucci. You and Taehyung would make a great couple."

"I'm flattered you would think so. Isn't Taehyung the most beautiful person in the world today?"

"That's what they say." Jungkook's eyes darted behind her. "Your bus is here."

"Thank you again." Jennie bowed then ran towards her bus. She swiped her card and gave one last glance at Jungkook. He waved at her. She waved back before settling in one of the available seat. She suddenly couldn't wait to go home and tell her group mates about her crazy day. Hah.

When Jennie came back to their apartment, she saw Jisoo and Lisa hunched over a bowl of salad. Lisa looked up with her mouth still full with lettuce and waved at her. Both of her groupmate were in their workout clothes.

"You went to the gym?" She asked and sat down beside Jisoo. She reached down for a piece of lettuce with her finger and munched it down.

"You took so long." Lisa said. "What did the President tell you?"

Jennie pursed her lips. "He chose me to participate in the The Couple Challenge by BLive."

The table shook as Jisoo slammed her hand down. Her friends gawked at her with twin delight. "He didn't!" Jisoo exclaimed

"Unfortunately, he did." Jennie sighed, miserable.

"Just why." Lisa said, her eyes laughing. "Why not Jisoo? Why you, who's so emotionally constipated?"

Jennie glared at them while they shook with laughter. Jisoo then fished out her phone and started video calling Rose who's currently away for her private singing practice.

"You wouldn't believe what the prez wanted with Jennie." Jisoo announced giddily when Rose's face appeared. "He put her to the The Couple Challenge."

"What?" Rose screeched to the phone while she removed her huge headphone with one hand. "Did they want the show to fail?"

Jennie thumped her head down to the table in misery.

The next days were a blurred after that. In between the preparation for their comeback, Jennie was whisked away into several meetings regarding the Couple Challenge. Unlike the TV show 'We Got Married', the challenge wouldn't be filmed like an actual show. A spin-off project of BLive, viewers would bid every day for the role of Director. The highest bidder would get to pose one challenge a day to the featured couple of the month which was Jennie from Blank Pink and...whoever the company decides.

In regards of the few episodes Jennie had watched for research purposes, the challenges were pretty easy. The current couple for the month of February is Kang Daniel from Wanna One and Red Velvet's Joy. They were just asked to eat out for ice cream or have a date in an amusement mark. These were all filmed using BLive of course to set up a spontaneous moments.

Jennie rested her cheek in her palm while she scrolls through the episodes for today's month. All of them were titled with the day's challenges so it was easy to get a picture of the whole thing. She was torn between being envious that Kang Daniel and Joy would only be together for 28 days which was rather short than Jennie would be with her unknown partner for the month of March.

She snapped back into attention when the door opened and the show's PD came barging in. She was really young for a PD and Jennie had heard that this was her first project in the company. Maybe the reason why the young generation flocked to this show because the PD really knows what would click with them.

"So." Jennie started when Rima PD just sat in front of her in silence. "Who is it?"

"Before we get into that." Rima PD said, trying to stifle her laughter which was bringing dread in Jennie's stomach. "I hope we're all set with the schedule. Your first Blive with him will be on March 1st, and every challenge from the viewers would need to be completed within 24 hours. This will be for a whole month, so no day off. Again, we really don't have any idea how long each challenge will take because the viewers are really getting creative each day. Rest assured though that its rules will be strictly monitored to avoid any mature content. Questions?"

"Who is it?" Jennie asked and felt like the room got smaller from her anxiousness.

"Kim Taehyung of Bangtan Seonyondan. Or V as he is popularly known."

If Jennie cursed, she blamed it all on her fucked up destiny. Fortunately, the camera was not on yet.

TO BE CONTINUED:

 

PS: Vlive was changed to Blive tactfully to avoid copyrights. Just like in the story, you could give suggestions on what challenges Jennie and V would complete.


	2. First Meeting and Samyang

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jennie is an awkward person and first meetings are even more awkward than her.

Jennie couldn't stay still and being the first one to finish dressing up didn't help a bit. She stood up to fiddle with the enormous set of make-ups in their dressing room. Then she darted to Lisa's side and tried to convince her friend to party with her and play PUBG.

"No." Lisa said, eyes closed while their image stylist applied her eyeshadow. "I can't concentrate and I'm gonna die five minutes in."

"I'll protect you." Jennie insisted.

Lisa opened her left eye. "No. And why are so excited?"

Jennie's body literally snapped back in shock. "What are you talking about?"

"We know it's your first challenge with V. Don't be too excited." Lisa grinned and closed her eyes entirely again. Even their make-up artist couldn't help laughing at Jennie's constipated look. "Just be natural."

"I'm not excited." Jennie argued. "I'm fucking hyperventilating over here."

"Language." Their manager snapped as she popped up beside them. "I'm hoping you don't take this cursing on screen Jennie. I've already heard from Rima PD all about it."

Jennie clamped her lips and maimed zipping it up. She heard Rose chuckling at her while getting her hair done across the room. Deciding that no one really wanted to help her calm her nerves, Jennie stood up and excused herself from the room. She debated going downstairs for a matcha frappe but realized she was instructed not to take any empty calories for the day.

The hallway was packed with other idols that were to perform for KBS special event. BlackPink was invited to sing 'As if it's Your Last' for the fifth act. She checked her wristwatch and saw she had to burn four more hours before the show starts. Now would be a good time to make a quick run and film today's challenge with V. If only she could locate the man.

Jennie could easily ask one of the staff where BTS room was located but that was something that she would avoid if her last breath depended on it. She planned to make it through this whole ordeal without meeting any more bangtan members.

One of her secret place to play quietly was every building's fire exit. She was already familiar where KBS's was so she headed there. As she went down the steps, her heart jumped through her throat when she saw V.

The first thing that went through her mind was no one was allowed to look that handsome. It was simply against all nature. Then she saw the dark expression on his beautiful face, which should be caused by the girl crying in front of him with uncontrollable trembling.

"What are you doing?" If Jennie thought V's voice was already too deep in BTS songs, it was nothing hearing it from this distance and laced with anger. "We already talked about not seeing each other in public."

"I can't," the girl said. "I can't do this anymore. It's killing me."

V's expression turned grimmer. He leaned his right hand on the wall and stared down at the girl. "I can't do any more than this."

The girl's figure shook even harder. "I just love you so much."

"And I care about you but---"

Jennie registered too late that this was a private conversation that she has nothing to do with. Slowly inching backwards, Jennie didn't stop until her back hit the fire exit door. She peeled it off carefully and bolted from there.

Her cheeks were red when she came back to the dressing room. Lisa was already done with her make-up and her brow quirked in curiosity seeing how hard she was breathing. "You saw V?"

"No." Jennie quickly forced her face to remain emotionless. "I didn't."

"Then why are you so red?"

"I tripped on the way. It was embarrassing."

Lisa rolled her eyes. "So clumsy. Anyway, PUBG? G? Jisoo will take forever again."

"Because you took forever in here." Jisoo answered back with her hair all pulled away from her face with a tight bun.

Jennie took a deep breath and tried to calm her racing heart. "Sure."

They played two games of PUBG. The first one, Lisa failed horribly by dying within the first two minutes. The second was just humiliating because they died outside the play area because Jennie took too long looking for pants. They were about to start a third game when the room suddenly quieted down. Jennie and Lisa stopped arguing enough to look at the source of the silence.

V stood at the entrance, his posture confident as he scanned the room. When he located Jennie at the couch, his entire demeanor lit up. He raised the camera he was holding and waved at it.

"Hello, everyone." V said at the small screen which shows the Blive was on. "I finally located Blackpink's dressing room and their manager let me in, I swear. There's my partner right there." The camera swung Jennie's way and she fought to flinch away. "We're about to do Day 1 Challenge and eat samyang. Are you ready Miss Jennie?"

Jennie cleared her throat and stood up. "Of course." She gave a small smile to the camera. "Let's do it."

"I'm Kim Taehyung by the way." Taehyung offered his free hand and grin at Jennie.

"Jennie Kim. Would you prefer me to call you V or Taehyung?"

"Taehyung, please. I want this to be realistic as possible." Taehyung glanced at the camera like he could hear the viewer's thoughts. His eyes widened, causing Jennie to peer up at the screen curiously. "We now reached 2 million viewers. Wow. Anyway, since we have an event coming up, we'll make this quick. Let's go?"

Jennie waved at the screen in what she hoped a cheeky fashion. Taehyung bowed in thanks to the people in the room and was able to collect wish of lucks from everyone. Jennie looked back at her group members before exiting the room and they all gave her thumbs up.

The idols milling about in the hallway cheered them on. Taehyung appeared to glow from all the attention while Jennie struggled to keep a happy expression on. There was a reason why she failed horribly at their drama class when she was a trainee.

There were a lot of fans waiting at KBS ground and the ground shook when Jennie and Taehyung exited the main entrance. They could have taken the back door but Jennie was advised by Rima PD to be seen in public as much as possible to prove that their videos were unscripted and real. Both of them waved at the fans as they crossed the street to the convenience located in front.

Thankfully, the store was heavily guarded and only the two of them were the customers. Taehyung went to the cashier with his hand still holding the phone which was convenient because he was a foot taller than her. Jennie followed behind.

"What do you want?" Taehyung asked her while he scrutinized the array of cups.

Jennie shrugged. "The spiciest one."

"You like spicy foods?" For the first time since they met, Taehyung looked at Jennie with his natural expression. Or the expression one should be wearing when not in front of camera.

"This is the samyang challenge, right? We should get the spiciest one."

"Right. Sorry, I was kind of overwhelmed and confused. This is my first time hanging out with a girl outside work."

She frowned, dubious. This man was outright lying to her. It hasn't even been an hour since she saw him talking to a girl. But Jennie wasn't supposed to hear that one so she kept her mouth shut. Taehyung appeared unbothered whether she believe him and or not and continued perusing the various samyang.

"This one?" Taehyung picked up two red samyang. "I don't even know guys why you would want my first meeting with a Blackpink member to start with a spicy noodle. I can bear with regular spiciness but this is a different kind of hell."

Jennie had to help Taehyung with his cup noodles because of the camera. After they filled it with hot water, they sat at the back of the store and waited for it to cook. Five minutes felt like a thousand years because of how awkward everything was. The camera now sat in front of them so both of could move freely. Taehyung was taping his chopsticks on the cover of his cup while whistling a tune Jennie doesn't recognize while she stared at the camera poker-faced.

"It's awkward." Taehyung said after a minute of them not saying anything to each other.

In lieu of proper answer, Jennie nodded at her cup.

"What's your favorite cup noodle?" Taehyung asked in an attempt to save the both of them.

"Shin Ramyun." Jennie truly wanted to add anything interesting to that but there was nothing. It was a great time for a brain fart.

"Me too."

Silence again.

"We're going to fail this show, aren't we?" Jennie bit her lip and bought her face closer to the screen. "I'm sorry, I'm not good at conversation."

Taehyung laughed and Jennie tore her gaze away from the screen. She couldn't help but notice that when the man laughs, his eyes really crinkle and he has a unique smile. The one that she read on the news which forms into a box. It was fascinating.

Thankfully their noodles were finally cooked so the awkward silence could be replaced with their actual commentary. Taehyung stirred his quickly. "Do you want another challenge?" he asked.

"What?" Jennie stirred her own in a delicate fashion. She ignored some splash of sauce from Taehyung's cup to her hand. "Add more spicy sauce?"

Taehyung made a face. "No. Let's see who can stuff their mouth with most noodles."

Now Jennie was brought up as a well-mannered girl. Her mom taught her not to talk while eating and to only fill her spoon with small amount of food. It was only living with her group mates that she learned to let loose a little but stuffing your face with too much food?

Jennie glanced at the screen again. Then she smirked at Taehyung's challenging eyes. "Sure." Manners should come second when it comes to salvaging this project.

Almost instantly, they bought swirled their samyang like you would with pasta. Jennie watched as Taehyung lifted up almost all the noodles and took a huge bite. She snickered when his face and eyes got red.

"Want some milk?"

"You haven't taken a bite yet." He accused.

Jennie lifted the heap of noodles and stuffed it in her mouth. She smiled while chewing. "Not bad."

"Are you serious?" Taehyung demanded, his forehead starting to get really sweaty. "I had this once. I forgot how much pain it takes to eat this."

"Milk?" Jennie asked again between bites.

"I'll get it." Taehyung stood up and went to the beverage section.

Now that Jennie was alone in front of the camera, she checked up the number of viewers and was pleased to see it reached 3 million. "For a big kid like him, he's not so strong with spicy noodles."

"What are you telling them?" Taehyung asked curiously as he took his seat again. "Already bad mouthing me on our first date?"

Jennie choked. "This is not a date. It's a challenge."

Taehyung flushed. "Oh. I forgot."

"We have to finish this really fast." Jennie said. "The show's starting soon and you'll need to retouch because you're too sweaty now."

Taehyung groaned. "I shouldn't have volunteered to be dressed up first."

"Same."

They finished their noodles quickly, accompanied with Taehyung's complaint all the way. The fans greeted them loudly as they made their way back to the building. Some shouted whether their dear Taetae was alright and does he need more milk.

"Taetae?" Jennie asked when they got in.

"It's Jimin's neck name for me." Taehyung explained.

"I got scared by the amount of girls back there who asked if you would still like milk."

Taehyung burst out laughing. "I know. Our fans can be very passionate at times."

"So this is it." Jennie gave a small smile. "Thank you for salvaging this show. I'm not a very good conversationalist so..."

"You were fine." Taehyung assured. "I look forward to tomorrow's challenge. We'll have to wait for it by midnight though."

"Yeah." Jennie waved. "See ya."

"See ya. And goodluck."

"You too." She turned her back then to avoid going back to any awkward silence. When she got back to the dressing room, she didn't need to narrate what happened because their entire staff apparently watched the whole event.

Then they were already in the stage and performing. While their platform went down, Jennie looked at the mass of fans and hoped that The Couple Challenge would help their group massively in their upcoming album. As a rookie group coming from one of the biggest company in Korea, they had so much to prove to the citizens.

Due to a call from YG, they weren't able to stay for the last act which was BTS. They were ushered into their van and bought to their company building. YG met them up to discuss the final list of songs that would be included in their album. He asked the group to record their title song roughly.

The four of them weren't even allowed to breathe before they were in the studio with Teddy Park. They went through the song for the first time without the mic on. Then they recorded a rough version of it. Jennie listened to the recording carefully and picked out the parts she would need to improve on.

After that, they were finally allowed to go home. Jennie excused herself and opted to stay in the studio.

"Are you sure?" Teddy asked. "You look tired."

"I'm fine." Jennie said. "Just one more."

They went through her verses again. It was half-past eleven when Jennie finally stood up and was forcefully kicked out by Teddy from the studio. She lay in the couches in the lobby, not caring whether her skirt slid up a little since there was no one working anymore, other than their beloved producer and probably YG.

She checked her phone with tired eyes. Going home after a long day was even more tiring so she decided to rest briefly. She opened up her private SNS and was curious to see a friend request.

It was Taehyung.

There was a moment where she debated whether to accept him or not since they're technically just co-workers, not friends. But it was too ridiculous and Jennie had to chastise herself for the attitude. She clicked accept and immediately, a message popped up from Taehyung.

Taehyung: Still awake?

Jennie: Yeah. We had practice.

Taehyung: Aw. Did you see tomorrow's challenge yet?

Jennie: Not yet.

Taehyung: Cheeeck it pleeease.

She opened up the BLive app and went to the bidding section. Someone named 'pillowcracker25' won the bid for 35 Dollars. The challenge was written below the username. Jennie released her breathe when she read it.

Jennie: Easy

Taehyung: Haha easy for you. Please don't paint my nails black owkie

Jennie: Noted. So how are we gonna do it tomorrow?

Taehyung: Is it selfish if I ask you to come to our shoot tomorrow? I'll send our driver to get you.

Jennie glared at her phone, willing the other man to take back what he said but Taehyung only added please. She let out a groan of frustration. The problem with Taehyung was that if he has a shoot, then it means all BTS members would be there. And if Jennie was a mess in front of strangers, what more if she was in front of him.

She saw Taehyung typing again and quickly made a decision. To hell with it. She wasn't a sixteen year old girl anymore who couldn't handle a simple attraction. She would go to BTS shoot, paint Taehyung's nails and get the fuck out.

Jennie: Sure.

Taehyung: Really? Thanks! Don't worry I'll go to you for the next challenge.

TO BE CONTINUED:

 

PS: Just a head's up. This story will have mature content in the future.


	3. First Love and Nail Polish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jennie chose her career over her first love.

Jennie was sixteen years old when she first had a private conversation with YG Entertainment Inc. President, Yang Hyun-Suk. She was ushered into his office and was instructed to only respond to his questions and not to touch any of his prized toys. She remembered the feeling of panic, of fear of being kicked out of the program for not doing enough. Yet YG only asked her what she thought she lacked the most.

 

Jennie could claim there were few things she was bad at and one of them was expressing her emotions. She was constantly scolded by her dance trainer for her lack of right expressions for dancing. There were lots of instances where her trainer had to stop her in the middle of practicing just to snap at her that her face looked like rock.

 

For Jennie, it was impossible. How can someone show their passion through projecting? She was only interested in dancing and she knew she was good at it. She could smile, laugh and smirk. Shouldn't that be enough?

 

Afterwards, YG enrolled her at a special drama class. It was one of those classes where trainees from other agencies go together. It was composed of six sessions and so they were only required meet every Saturday.

Jennie was a train wreck the first day. She didn't know anyone from her company who attended the same class. She almost regretted confessing to YG about her problem if only she could avoid being subjected to that hell. The first day was spent with Jennie sitting at the farthest back and only listening to their instructor lecture. She watched as her classmates volunteered for demonstration and dreaded the time she would have to do the same.

The second meeting, Jennie was prepared. She brought a book with her and planned to read in the back inconspicuously. The plan was almost successful. The session ended without Jennie participating and interacting with anyone. She stood up and was about to gather her things when an arm suddenly sneaked behind her and pulled her closer.

Jennie gasped and almost hurt her neck as she looked at the imbecile who thought it was a good idea to touch her without permission. "Who. The. Fuck." she injected poison at each word and glowered at the chubby teen smiling shyly at her.

"Sorry." The teen bit his lips and gestured at his companion to leave them alone. Jennie didn't think her eye brow could go up any higher. This dude would soon learn a painful reason in ten second not to lay a finger on her. "I need to uh...lend my jacket to you."

 

"And why would I want your jacket?" Jennie asked slowly as if speaking to a child. "Other than to choke you with it right now if you don't remove your filthy hands from me."

 

The other reddened slightly. "Uhm...you have a bit of problem here."

 

"What are you talking about?"

 

"You have a spot in your jeans." He explained, appearing more flustered. "Red spot."

It took Jennie ten seconds for the statement to dawn on her. She reached behind her back and felt her butt. There was a wet spot in it and Jennie pulled back her hand to see some red smudge.

They both stared at it.

 

"Huh." Jennie said. "I didn't even know I'll have my period. It's the first time."

 

The boy looked lost at what to say. Jennie took pity for him and grabbed his jacket. She wrapped it around her waist in silence then took some wet wipes from her small bag. She wiped her hand and glanced at her fidgeting classmate.

 

"Thank you." Jennie said sincerely. "And sorry for cursing at you earlier."

"It's fine." The boy played with his hands and looked up at her demurely. "I'm Park Jimin by the way."

 

"Jennie Kim. I would offer my hand but that would be disgusting."

Jimin chuckled good-naturedly. It was only then that Jennie was able to appreciate how good looking the boy was. Not in the usual male idol look but Jimin's chubby features were drawing Jennie in. He had adorable thick lips and chinky eyes. His cheeks also looked so squishy.

Realizing that Jimin was every bit of her type, Jennie screamed at her child lust to be at bay. She was supposed to get through this whole session peacefully, not hunt down adorable boys.

The entire week couldn't have gone faster enough. Jennie waited with baited breathe until Saturday could come again. She still brought her books but instead of reading, she spent her time watching Jimin from across the room.

 

Jimin was a quiet one. He really only talked to his considerably younger companion named Jeon Jungkook. Sometimes, Jenny saw Jimin laughing at the hilarious demonstrations in front and her heart felt really light.

When lunch time came, Jimin approached her and invited her to sit at the canteen with Jungkook. Jennie was surprised but didn't let it get in the way of her quest now to be at Jimin's side even if Jungkook appeared to feel awkward with the new addition to their duo team.

She didn't even talk much during these lunches. Quite satisfied with hearing Jimin's unique voice, Jennie listened on as he told stories about their latest dance practices or the latest anime he watched with their other friend named Taehyung.

 

For the fifth session, Jennie was kind of satisfied not to see Jungkook. All the despondent gazes and mopping directed at her could also get tiring. She sat with Jimin at lunch alone.

"You're happy today." Jimin noticed while he slurped down his salad because that was the only word to describe his eating. Apparently, he was on a strict diet to lose weight. She was desperate to tell him he looked the best in his current state and dreaded the day those chubby cheeks shrink.

"Of course." Jennie smiled cheekily then quickly frowned when she saw Jimin froze. "What?"

"It's the first time I see you smile genuinely." Jimin stared at her with an unreadable expression. "It suits you."

Jennie experienced blushing for the first time. She could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks and her heart felt like it would puff out from her chest and start screaming how much it adored one Park Jimin.

 

Jimin coughed into his hands, awkward but it only made Jennie grin into her cup of coffee even harder. For the few weeks they had been together, Jennie could not imagine not seeing Jimin anymore. It was like he became a huge part of her waking up every single morning.

 

"Do you want to get ice cream after this?" Jimin blurted out of a sudden and Jennie's smile dropped. "Before you go to your practice?"

 

Now she felt panic rising in her chest. She didn't think Jimin would be this forward and invite her out. She imagined being the one to ask for his number, never the other way around. Or was she just being paranoid? Perhaps Jimin just wanted to have a cheat meal and since Jungkook was busy with his vocal lesson for today, he asked her instead? Whatever. She couldn't pass this momentous opportunity.

 

"S-sure." Jennie's voice cracked and she cleared her throat, embarrassed. 

 

Jimin met her gaze and smiled. The entire room faded into the background. The ground could even open at that moment and Jennie would swore she would not feel it.

Usually, Jimin would go back to his spot in front of the room but that day, he stayed with Jennie in the back. In return, Jennie was filled with daydream of holding Jimin's hands in class and hoped in whomever God was out there that this class never ends even if she wasn't able to improve her acting a bit.

They went for an ice cream after that in the convenience store near their class. Jimin was quiet compared when they were with Jungkook. It was fine with Jennie though. If she thought getting to seat with Jimin during lunches were heaven, then hanging out with him outside class was pure bliss.

He could literally stand in front of her without saying anything and Jennie could spend the day memorizing his face and still feel freaking ecstatic.

 

It was several days before Jennie could stop smiling at everyone she bumped into. Even YG noticed she was blooming and inquired about the success of her drama class. Jennie could barely hold herself back from jumping her cold president and thanking him for putting her in that class. 

 

She was in the middle of recording her lines in 'Black' when her phone vibrated. While her senior Kwon Ji-Young and Teddy Park discussed parts of the song, Jennie pulled out her phone to sneak a peek. Her heart jumped to her throat when she saw Jimin's friend request.

 

She pressed the accept button with shaky hands and waited. Jimin was already offline but it didn't stop Jennie from feeling giddy all throughout the day. Jimin did send her a chat in the evening and they both complained about the strain of their practices.

When their last session arrived, Jennie was not as scared anymore. She and Jimin have contact and even if they were only friends, at least she would still be able to reach him. 

 

For their last session, Jennie and Jimin sat at the back while Jungkook remained at his spot in front. Jennie's body was coiled with tension as the light dimmed in the room for the film showing their professor would make them watch. She didn't even have a single grasp of what the film was all about, all too aware of the boy sitting beside her.

 

It was in the middle of the movie and Jennie was ready to excuse herself to escape from all the tension when she felt Jimin's rough hands clasping her own. Jennie felt her entire body freeze and surge in heat simultaneously. Her eyes remained glued to the screen and so was her hand with Jimin.

 

After the movie ended, Jimin let her go just as light flooded the room once more. Jennie was too lightheaded to even pay attention to Jungkook's suspicious looks. A van with YG logo was waiting outside the building and for a second, Jennie contemplated the importance of being in a famous company compared to a growing company like Jimin's.

"I'll see you around?" Jimin asked as Jennie was about to close the car door.

Jennie nodded and because she could, reached up and squeezed Jimin's hands. She withdrew back just in time for the driver to start the car. She felt Mr. Insan looking at her from the front view mirror but Jennie was too high in love to care.

Her feet felt like it was floating on fluffy cloud nine as she entered YG's office. She sat there and hoped her dreamy expression wasn't as vulgar as she was suspecting.

YG dropped down in the coach in front of her and shook his head. "You have a boyfriend."

Jennie's stomach flipped. "No. I don't."

"Don't lie to me Jennie. I have ears everywhere." YG leaned using his elbows and gestured to his ear. "I know you've been hanging out with a BigHit's trainee."

"We're just friends." Jennie defended.

"And it will remain that way." YG snapped. "You're just a trainee and you're already giving me headache. Don't look guilty. A lot of our artist went through this phase but they all sacrificed for their career. Remember this Jennie. Your ownership lies in your fan's hands. You cannot belong to anyone other than them. I will not condemn you to admire people but that's your limit. That boy will be nothing compared to how you will be in the future. Choose now."

Jennie's voice shook as her mother's disappointed face flash through her mind. "Choose what?"

"Whether you'll become great or be stagnant beside this boy. You're still young. You can still meet a lot of people but what this company offers you is invaluable." YG's jaw tightened. "You're not the only person who's dying to train with."

Jennie's breath hitched but she refused to back down now. Not when her family already invested too much in her. "I understand."

 

"I expect you to. You are dismissed."

When Jennie got home from practicing until her body was literally shaking from exertion, she saw Jimin's several chats. It took every will power she got to ignore it. It was painful but she survived.

After three weeks of not hearing her reply, Jimin stopped sending chats altogether. It didn't stop Jennie though from looking at the tiny green dot whenever the boy was online. And when BTS finally debuted, Jennie watched it live on her phone.

 

She didn't get any chance to talk to Jimin again throughout the years after their little fling and truth be told, Jennie wasn't really looking for any reunion at all. She knew she acted like a bitch for not explaining herself and have no idea what to tell Jimin if ever he still cares.

 

I'm sorry but I loved my career more than you. Yeah right.

YG also doubled his strictness in implementing his no-dating policy. They could barely see other idol group under the company. Even during award shows, BlackPink members were instructed not to have eye contact with other groups. There was one instance though where they were called for an award and had to pass by BTS's table. She heard Jimin's small voice congratulating them. It was a brief moment but it distracted her all evening.

 

Jennie took a shallow breath as the driver parked the car in front of the building BTS was currently shooting at. There were several cars parked in the lot, which were probably owned by BigHit's staff. She saw some staff darting around and carrying a variety of colorful clothes.

"Mr. Kim Taehyung asked you to wait here." The driver said.

Jennie couldn't stop looking around. "In this car?"

 

"Yes." He answered.

She couldn't decide whether waiting in the car was much worse than barging inside. Her entire nervous system was on its fight of flight mode. Fifteen long minutes later, she saw Taehyung's tall figure exiting the building then made a beeline to their car.

 

"Hi." Taehyung greeted with his boxy smile. "Did you have your lunch yet? I figured since we were in a hurry yesterday, I'll treat you to lunch today."

"That's not necessary." Jennie said weakly.

 

"Nonsense." Taehyung turned to the driver. "To that ramen place, Mister. My treat. So how was yesterday for you? Kind of crazy right? We were on top most searched name in Naver and we're still trending in Twitter."

If there was one thing Jennie was really grateful for, it was Taehyung's super enthusiastic personality. She had a feeling that Taehyung could fill any silence between them whenever he wanted. "I wasn't able to check my SNS at all yesterday." She admitted. "We had a very late practice."

"Yeah. I was surprised you were still awake at midnight." 

 

"I usually sleep really late." Jennie shrugged.

"Me too. It's only now that I started treasuring my sleep time. You become more productive." Taehyung leaned back in his chair and rested his hands behind his head. He was still dressed in his photo shoot outfit. It was almost an instinct that Jennie tested the material between her fingers. "You like Gucci too, right?" He asked, letting her feel his clothes up.

Jennie chuckled and nodded.

"It's the one thing I can't stop buying for myself." Taehyung added. "I always wanted good clothes when I was young."

 

"You didn't have good clothes?" Jennie asked untactfully which elicited laughter from the young man rather than being offended.

"I had clothes of course but it was kind of hard to get good ones when you're too far away from shopping districts. I grew up in a farm by the way."

"What was it like?" Jennie tucked her legs under her and angled her body towards the other man. "Growing up in a farm?"

"Peaceful." Taehyung smiled. "Sometimes I play classical music because it kind of reminds me of times where you don't hear any noise except nature."

"I wasn't aware you were this introspective."

 

"Why, what did you think I was like?" Taehyung asked, curious.

Jennie had an image of Taehyung leaning his one hand on the wall and glowering down at a girl. She shook off the image. If Taehyung knew she had seen that, she was pretty sure he'd transform into a completely different person. Jennie was not innocent anymore. She knew behind each idol's personality lies another person. She was just bad masking that other person by herself.

"Everybody says you're really friendly." Jennie supplied. "That they just need to look at your eyes and you'll befriend them."

Taehyung grinned. "That's good then. I was worried you heard horrible rumors about me. Like I lost my virginity at the tender age of 14 or something."

Jennie choked.

 

"Too soon?" Taehyung smirked then turned slightly towards her. She became aware of how close the other man was and her hand still gripping his Gucci shirt.

She let the shirt go as if her hand was burned by it. Taehyung let the conversation died down until they reached the restaurant. The driver was thankfully born with a chatty personality as they sat down so Jennie wasn't obliged to talk much. After eating, they headed back to the photo shoot venue.

While they walked down what looked like a set-up of a garage with a rebel theme, Jennie couldn't help admiring how detailed everything looked. The staff really did their best and it shined with the place. 

 

"Jennie?" A familiar voice called. They turned around to see Jungkook staring at them with bewilderment. "What are you doing here?"

Taehyung held up his phone. "We're gonna film our challenge. Are you done with your solo?"

"Yeah." Jungkook's eyes darted between them. "You want help? I could help."

"Thanks. I was about to ask you." Taehyung said in a sheepish tone. He handed the phone to Jungkook and then they prepared all the nail colors.

"What do you want?" Jennie asked Taehyung after they said their introduction to the screen. Jungkook sat in between the small desk so he could shot their side profiles. 

 

Taehyung hummed as he perused the choices. "Not black. I already look gothic enough. How about this?"

"Neon green?" Jennie recoiled in disgust.

 

"Yeah why not." Taehyung snickered then spread his fingers in front of her. "Don't get it on my shirt okay."

 

Jennie rolled her eyes. She opened the bottle of nail polish and started convincing herself painting a man's hand in a middle of a warehouse was a good life choice at twenty one years old. While she was painting Taehyung's nails, the latter started talking to the viewers as if he could see them personally.

She laughed at some of his crazy antics and almost got paint on his cuff. Taehyung yelped and told her in English 'Miss Kim, please. Don't. Is Expensive '. Jennie and Jungkook snickered at the feeble attempt.

 

When it was her turn, she took glee in Taehyung almost covering the desk with his body as he leaned forward and painted her nails delicately. Jungkook was in the middle of making fun of Taehyung's failure at double coating when two loud voices entered the room.

 

Jennie's head whipped to the owners and was stunned to see BTS Leader Rap Monster rapping while Jimin echoes every last word.

"Oh." Rap Monster stopped when he saw her. "Jennie's here?"

Jimin's eyes flew to her and the remnant of humor in his face disappeared. They stared at each other, Jennie quickly taking note of each new detail in his face. The pictures online didn't do him justice. He might not be as good looking as Taehyung but he took Jennie's breath all the same.

"Hello Jennie Kim." Rap Monster greeted as he came closer with Jimin.

 

Jennie nodded politely. "Rap Monster right?"

"Nooo." Taehyung whined, still busy painting her nails. "We call him RM now."

"Please call me Namjoon."

 

"And Jimin, right?" Jennie gave herself a stadium worth of applause by maintaining her calm facade when she regarded Jimin.

"Yes." 

 

There was an awkward silence that only the three of them could feel while Taehyung remained unbothered. Another member entered the room with a string of complaints.

"Fucking necktie." Suga tugged the offending object from his neck. "I'd like to throttle whoever made this tight fucker with it."

 

"Yoongi." Jimin called gently.

Suga a.k.a Yoongi to his bandmates saw them and stopped short too when he saw Jennie. He gave her a brief hello then told Jimin he was badly needed by their stylist.

Jennie released her breath when the two of them exited the room again. Namjoon then took a seat beside her and chatted with her a bit.

It took thirty minutes for Taehyung to paint all her nails. She bought it up to her face for a closer inspection and admitted it was good for a first timer. Taehyung soaked up the compliment.

They said goodbye to their viewers then gathered all off Jennie's nail polish. Namjoon excused himself with Jungkook and told Taehyung they would need to shoot their group picture soon.

"You don't really need to walk me to the van." Jennie said. "You'll be late."

"I'm sorry but I was raised up to be a gentleman." Taehyung opened the door for her. "See you tomorrow?"

"Okay."

 

Something flashed in Taehyung's eyes. "You'll reply to me when I text you right?"

"Of course. What made you think I wouldn't?"

"Nothing." Taehyung grinned at her cheekily. "Just making sure."

The next day, Jennie woke up before her group mates and put on her jogging clothes. Her phone pinged on her bed stand. She read the text saying her partner was already downstairs.

Quickly pulling her hair into a tight bun, Jennie ran outside and entered the black Tucson Taehyung brought with him. The camera man BLive provided for today's challenge sat in the passenger side and was already filming them.

"Good morning, Miss Jennie." Taehyung greeted in mock formality. He glanced at her nails. "I see you've really liked my job."

Jennie shrugged. "It's not that bad."

"How can you say that?" Taehyung exclaimed. "I did a wonderful job and I didn't get anything on your shirt."

She rolled her eyes then talked to him about their challenge. They were just asked to go to the park but Taehyung suggested they jog together and not to bring any headset.

They run for a few miles together while the poor camera ran behind them. Jennie found herself laughing easily at Taehyung's jokes. The man was born with a thick-faced as he tried to embarrass himself by waving to every people they pass by. Jennie now could see how much of a social butterfly he was and she felt a pang of admiration for his easy personality.

After jogging, they sat in the children's park and tried to compete who could swing the highest.

"Oh my god." Jennie gasped when Taehyung flew through the sky by a badly timed swing. She jumped down from her own swing and rushed to his side. "Are you okay?"

Taehyung didn't even look embarrass as he pat his nose. "Is my nose still here? I just got it done." At Jennie's panic look, Taehyung crackled evilly. He patted the girl's hair. "I'm joking. This is natural. You can even pinch it anyway."

Jennie did pinch it hard causing the man to yelp in pain.

They didn't stay too long after that since Jennie has her practice at 7 in the morning and Taehyung would have a second round of photo shoot with his bandmates.

While they were practicing their comeback song dance routine, YG surprised them all by visiting. He made a notion for Jennie to come talk to him. He congratulated her about the good reviews of her show and to keep up the good work. Jennie bowed respectfully.

 

Later, Rose swung an arm around her shoulder and wiggled her brow suggestively. "Don't make it too good though or Taehyung might fall for you."

 

"Hah. Just tell him he's not the one you want to bone." Jisoo said while wiping away sweat from her forehead.

"Poor Taehyung." Lisa added. "He's got no idea you're Jiminsexual."

Jennie glared at them. "Taehyung's not interested in me." She almost added about the girl she saw with the man but decided it was not her secret to tell. Even if she knew her girls would never talk.

"You have great chemistry though." Jisoo mentioned, followed by sounds of agreement. "You laugh more when you're in a Blive with him. Like this morning. If only we knew Taehyung could tame you in the morning, we would have asked for his help since we started rooming together."

Jennie stuck her tongue to her roommates. They resumed their dance practice after that, and then had a quick lunch before they were finally recording their individual parts for the song.

By the time they were able to go home, Jennie was ready to have the sleep of the century. She let out a groan of frustration when her phone pinged again. Unlocking it fast, Jennie quickly scanned the message.

 

It was from Taehyung, bidding her good night.

 

"You have good chemistry together."

Jennie cursed Jisoo for mildly brainwashing and turned her phone upside down, not replying anymore.

TO BE CONTINUED:

Author's note: There will be some facts, data or dates I had to tweak for this story. I apologize in advance. Also, any review or feedback to this story will be greatly appreciated. Or challenges you want to see Jennie and Taehyung doing.


	4. Heart Break and Ice Cream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jennie did the post-heart break backward. She ate ice cream first before getting her heart break.

Jennie was sure the ice cream was slowly killing all the nerves in her hands. She transferred the ice cream container to her other hand and barely restrained herself from cursing Taehyung out loud. She glowered at the people that gave her curious looks.

She hoped the bidder who won today's episode would at least enjoy the sight of her and Taehyung massacring this massive ice cream. Jennie originally wanted to buy the small cups but his partner strictly told her to bring the biggest tub in the store.

 

Now if only Taehyung would appear and rescue her from where she was standing in BigHit's lobby.

"Jennie?" 

 

She froze.

"Ice cream challenge?" Jimin stepped closer and peered at the container in her hand.

Jennie didn't think she could talk so she just gave a small nod.

Jimin looked uncertain as he stood in front of her. She was reminded of the time he approached her about her first period. "Do you want some?"

"No." Jimin started shaking his head. "I'm on a diet. I'm not allowed sugars for a while."

"But you're already too thin." Jennie said, despite of her own battle with her weight. When it comes to Jimin, she failed to see any imperfection.

 

Jimin smiled tightly. "Isn't that what girls like?"

 

To think that Jimin would think so horrified her. She was about to talk to him seriously about girls and their needs when one of the elevators opened and revealed Yoongi. His eyes immediately locked on them.

 

"Jiminie." Yoongi called out, barely sparing Jennie a glance. "Let's go?"

Jimin nodded. "Sure. Goodbye Jennie."

"Yeah." Jennie bit her lip. "See ya."

Something like anger flashed through Jimin's eyes but it quickly went away as he turned his back and exited the building with Yoongi.

"Hey." Taehyung called loudly from the fire exit and ran to her side. "You got it?"

"Yeah." Jennie lifted the package, distracted.

Taehyung peered at her closely. "Something's wrong?"

Jennie frowned in contemplation. She wanted to ask Taehyung whether Yoongi didn't like her or something but in the end, it was not her problem. Nobody was inclined to like her at all.

"Why did you come from the fire exit?" Jennie changed the subject but remembered the last time she saw Taehyung in that place. It was too late to shift her question now.

Taehyung shrugged and reached for the package in her numb hand. "I like to take the stairs sometimes. Most of the times actually."

"What, from the eighth floor?"

 

"Why not?" Taehyung questioned back. "Burned extra calories."

"I hope we won't be taking the stairs again." Jennie said wearily. "I just came from a really toxic practice."

"Don't worry about it. I don't want to scar you for life because of our stairs. You might start thinking I'm barbaric or something."

"There's no way." Jennie deadpanned and followed Taehyung to the elevator.

They were both silent as the elevator went up to the highest floor. Not inclined to start a conversation, Jennie opted to watch Taehyung out of the corner of her eyes. The man was currently typing on his phone and she wondered if it was his secret lover he was texting. She almost asked him about it, curious about how one famous idol could hide a secret so well.

"We're here." Taehyung pocketed his phone and gestured for her to exit first. She looked around the floor and saw it was an office for support staff. Despite being busy with their desktop computers, they stopped when Jennie and Taehyung arrived and wished them luck.

 

"We have our own common room." Taehyung explained, leading her to one of the rooms. "We can shoot here. They already set up the Blive."

Truth be told, Jennie was surprised to see a screen showing their Blive. It was already starting. She smiled at the screen meekly and waved. As they sat in front of it, she noticed there were already a humongous number of viewers.

 

"Wow." She blinked at the screen, face too close. "A lot of people really want to see us eat ice cream that much?"

 

Taehyung pressed his body next to her until both of their eyes were all can be seen in the screen. "I guess a lot of people really love BTS and BlackPink, right Jennie?"

"What?" Jennie blinked, too distracted by the heat of Taehyung's closeness.

 

He turned his face towards her and imitated her blink. "I said, a lot of fans love us?"

It was wrong. She could sue him for invading her private bubble. Clearing her throat, she leaned back primly and made sure to put some reasonable space between them.

Taehyung laughed and reached out a hand to pat the top of head, making her glare harder. From all the patting she received from this guy, one would think she was a puppy. "You're too cute."

She was about to tell him exactly how terrifying she could be, screw the audience, when the door slammed open and revealed BTS Jin's face.

 

"Hellooo~~" Jin greeted enthusiastically and waved at Jennie. "Nice to meet you, Miss Jennie."

"Hi." Jennie smiled in return.

"Ah Hyung, what are you doing here?" Taehyung whined.

Jin shuffled to them and plopped his ass down between the two of them. "I heard you were going to eat some ice cream." He patted Taehyun's knee sympathetically. "And I can't just let you eat them all. What would happen to your health? To your voice? So I thought, as your hyung, I have the responsibility to help you."

 

Taehyung scoffed. "I would bet my fingers you were not thinking of helping me in any way. Beside, this is our challenge. Not you, me and her. Just Taehyung and Jennie."

Jin nodded grimly. "But that's the thing. There's no Taehyung. It's either BTS or nothing. We're in this together, forever."

As if on cue, the both of them started singing "Together, Forever" by Rick Astley. Jennie shook her head in disappointment as the two men performed an on-the-spot number in front of the screen.

She ignored them both and started opening up the tub. Taking one spoon, she dug into the ice cream and continued watching her companions make a fool of themselves.

"She's already eating." Taehyung pointed out. "Ah, we couldn't take the first bite together because of you hyung."

"It's because she doesn't want to." Jin rolled his eyes while he took a spoon too.

Taehyung glared. "That's not true. Right, Jennie?"

Jennie paused, not sure how to answer that one. She then decided to be as polite as she can. "Taehyung is a very likable man."

The two men froze and stared at her with wide eyes. She bought down her spoon slowly and wondered if she said anything wrong. "What?" she asked when she couldn't take their weird looks anymore.

"You like me?" Taehyung asked voice deeper than usual.

 

Suddenly, the room was too hot and she could feel all the blood rushing to her cheeks. Even Jin appeared to be flustered by the question and whacked his band mate's head.

"You idiot." Jin chastised, embarrassed for his friend's side. "Are you drunk?"

"What?" Taehyung exclaimed defensively. "She said I'm very likable. I'm only asking her to be sure."

"That wasn't what came out of your mouth. You asked her if she likes you. Oh my god, I want to hurt you so bad." Jin turned to the screen and bowed. "I'm very sorry of our Taehyung is not on his right mind today."

"Can we just finish our ice cream?" Jennie quipped. "Not that this is not hilarious but I'm pretty sure our bidder for today is not going to be happy with us."

 

Later, when they were both in the elevator, Taehyung asked her again.

"Do you like me?"

She breathed sharply, surprised itched in every corner of her face. Turning confused eyes on him, Jennie wondered whether her answer would matter to her or not. He clearly has someone special so why was he so curious to know if she likes him or not.

"Of course I like you." Jennie said, enunciating each syllable. "You've been nothing but friendly to me since we started doing these challenges."

 

"Ah." Taehyung pocketed his hands and leaned back on the metal wall behind him. He peered at her behind his bangs. "Do you have someone special, Jennie?"

"Everybody has someone special in their hearts." She answered calmly.

"So you have someone." Taehyung's eyes turned darker. "Is he okay with us doing this couple challenge?"

Jennie itched to return the same question to him but held herself back. She stood a little taller and let her usual unimpressed expression show. "I didn't say I'm with someone. I said everyone has someone in their hearts."

Taehyung's left brow quirked. "It's unrequited then?"

"Why are so curious about it?" Jennie exhaled in exasperation. She huffed and turned her back on him.

"I'm asking because I like you and I'm interested." Taehyung's eyes crinkled as he grinned at her dumbstruck face. "But I really hate competition so I guess you're off limits." He stepped closer, his body an inch away from her which caused her to stop breathing altogether.

Taehyung's arm went around her, and he leaned down so she could feel rather than see his mouth beside her ear. "Here's your floor."

Then the elevator opened with a ping, rousing her from whatever Taehyung did to her. Jennie drew back her leg and bought it down hard on his left foot. She heard a shout of pain and quickly stepped away from the elevator. Glowering down at the pained man, she conjured her best sneer. "Even without competition, I am off limits from head to toe from fuck boys like you."

"Fuck--what?" Taehyung gawked, both hands cradling his precious Gucci shoes.

Jennie huffed then walked away. She heard Taehyung yelling 'I'm not a fuck boy!' as she exited the building. Wiping her suddenly sweaty hands in her jeans, she glared at BigHit Headquarters once as more as if Taehyung could feel it. Why, the audacity of that man to flirt with her when she knows he was involved.

For the rest of the day, Jennie kept recalling the weird sensation she felt whenever Taehyung presses his body against her. She also kept slapping herself every time she did so. Of course, she was attracted to him physically. The man looked like an anime for fuck's sake. It was impossible not to appreciate his looks.

Thankfully, she and her group mates were finally practicing their comeback song. They stayed up in the dance studio until Jennie couldn't feel her legs anymore. It was past twelve in the evening when their instructor finally let them go for a brief rest. Jisoo though, decided the 20-minute drive home would be better spent in sleeping and insisted on resting in the dance studio.

Other members were also not keen on travelling home so they all gathered up some pillows from the lobby and made a nest in the studio. Jennie was on her way to dreamland when Rose's hand shook her awake.

"What?" She asked tiredly, barely conscious anymore.

"Someone won the bid." Rose whispered as to not awake the others. "She or He wants you to cook something for V."

"What? Whyyy." Jennie whined and added some sobbing effect. "No. Whyy me."

 

"I'll help you."

Jennie told herself not to complain since all the money from the show was being donated. Groggily, she pulled herself up and forced her sleep away. "I can manage."

"I'll help you." Rose insisted and made to sit up. 

 

Jennie shoved her pillow on her friend's face. "Sleep. I need somebody to slap me tomorrow if I fall asleep in the studio."

 

"Call me if you need anything!" Rose mouthed as she exited the room.

 

Jennie sighed, rubbed her face and with heavy steps, started making her way to the kitchenette in YG Building. Nearly awake for almost 24 hours straight, Jennie stared at the ingredients in front of her in dazed fashion.

She made some strong coffee first then stared sorting out the ingredients she would need for a chocolate cake. It was the most basic thing she could conjure in her state. Her baking skills were really superb. She was confident it would taste great even if she bake it half-asleep.

 

It was already nearing 3 am when she finished. After putting the cake in the ref, she went back to the studio and crawled beside Rose.

Her alarm clock rang at 4:30 am. She woke up and turned her phone off so it would not wake anyone. Jennie went to brush her teeth hurriedly and splashed her face with some water.

 

She sent a quick text to Taehyung next.

Jennie: U awake?

His profile said Online 15 minutes ago so she was positive he was awake. Taehyung replied after a minute.

Taehyung: Why

Jennie: Where are u?

Taehyung: I need a reason first. My foot hasn't recovered yet, you know.

Jennie: I baked a chocolate cake for u.

Taehyung: BigHit

Taehyung: Please bring coke too. We ran out of stocks

Jennie: What am I, ur maid

Taehyung: Now that's something interesting to cosplay.

She rolled her eyes at her phone. Grabbing the cake, Jennie exited the building. She was already on the taxi to BigHit Office when Taehyung sent a message again.

 

Taehyung: I forgot its my turn to go to you.

Jennie: It's fine. I'm already in the taxi.

Taehyung: Take care okay.

Jennie pursed her lips, reading the line again. He undoubtedly knows how to take care of a woman, leading her more to believe he was a player. When the taxi stopped in front of BigHit Ent., Jennie was ready to get this challenge and day done.

The receptionist already knew her so she made her way up with no assistance. She pressed the button to the floor where Taehyung took her yesterday. It turns out to be empty. Jennie went to BTS common room and peeked inside but Taehyung was not there.

She sent a text to Taehyung telling him she was already in the building and where was he. He took so long to reply so Jennie went a floor up and roamed around.

The upper was more compact and segregated by small rooms. She checked her phone again but there was still no reply. She was about to go down and wait in the common room but a noise from one of the room stopped her.

Thinking there was a person she could ask for Taehyung's whereabouts, Jennie pushed it open. Why she didn't know, she blamed it in her sleepy state. What she was currently witnessing though, there was no explanation.

Jennie gasped in shock just as Jimin's eyes widened. She took in his naked state, too stunned to turn away and apologize. Even when he stood up from Yoongi's lap and started dressing, Jennie still followed every moment.

"Fuck, fuck," Jimin said, zipping his pants up. He was panicking, contrary to Yoongi who grabbed him by the belt and zipped up his pants for him since the younger man's hands were shaking too much.

It was during those painful moments that Taehyung appeared. "I'm sorry I went to the bathroom and left my phone." He said then glanced at the room and saw Jimin's fearful expression and rumpled clothing. It didn't need to take a genius to guess what happened.

First, Jennie was literally breaking staring at Jimin then the next thing, she felt Taehyung's blocking her from the two occupants of the room. It was perfect timing because she felt her tears coming up fast.

 

"Let's talk about this another time." Taehyung said, serious and then guided her out.

"No." Yoongi snapped. "We're going to talk about it right now. What if she goes to the press?"

"Hyung, she's not going to go to the press." Taehyung snapped back. "She's not like that."

Yoongi let out a condescending snort. "How would you know? You've only known her for a week. I don't trust her, nor Jimin. We need to talk about it right now."

Jennie's heart squeezed painfully at the statement. Jimin did not trust her? Of course he doesn't. All she did was left him hanging. She felt the smallest in those seconds.

"Don't talk to her like that." Taehyung said with a hint of anger.

"You're taking her side?" Yoongi asked, incredulous. "Are you serious?"

"Hyung..." Jimin's timid voice cut through the tension.

Jennie was crying hard now. She tried wiping away her tears but they it continuous to pour down. Never in her life did she felt pathetic up until this moment. Why couldn't she hide her emotions when she most needed it?

"Why are you crying?" Taehyung demanded but help wiped her tears.

"I'm sorry." Jennie said, her body shaking with how hard she was hurting. "I won't tell anyone. And I'm sorry you think I can't be trusted. I'm sorry for apparently not being a good person enough to you Jimin. I swear I didn't mean to be a bad person to you."

She met Jimin's achingly beautiful face with plea. "I want the best for you. I want you to be happy. If this is you, if this is what makes you happy, I promise not to harm it. You mean a lot to me, more than you could ever know."

"Jennie..." Jimin looked just in pain. She yearns to wipe it away but Yoongi was already reaching out a hand to him.

"We'll go." Taehyung announced with finality. "We'll talk later, hyung."

He grabbed her shoulder and led her away from the room. Jennie was still trembling with tears. She was too numb to care about the embarrassment of bursting out in front of other people. She just couldn't cafe anymore. She was tired from practice and the show; seeing her love one in the arms of other was the last straw.

 

"Was Jimin your special someone?" Taehyung asked when they were finally seated in the common room.

 

Jennie nodded weakly, not anymore in the mood of hiding anything. "How long were they together?"

"Since last year." Taehyung sighed. "I'm not letting you come here anymore."

"I'm fine." Jennie said in automatic defense.

 

Taehyung wiped her cheeks. "But you're still crying.

 

"I'm tired. I only slept for an hour. I saw Jimin making out with somebody. This is me breaking down."

 

"And you still look gorgeous."

Jennie glared. "I'm not in the mood."

 

"Okay. I don't know how to make you feel better." Taehyung held his hands up. 

 

"The cake slipped from my hand upstairs."

 

"It's fine. Don't worry about." Taehyung started reaching about for pillows and made a fortress beside him. "I'll film later and tell the viewers you made it. In the meantime, you can sleep here."

"I can just go home."

"Sleep." Taehyung dragged her to his side and made her lie down. "I'll watch over you."

Too tired to argue anymore, Jennie closed her eyes. "You're a good person but I still think you're a player."

"Why, because I take care of people?" Taehyung asked drily.

She didn't know how long Taehyung stayed after she fell asleep. Blinking blearily, she checked her phone and found out it was already 8 in the morning, meaning she slept for four hours. There were a lot of notifications in her phone from Blive and discovered Taehyung filmed eating her cake in the same room she slept in. He told the viewers she was too tired from practice so she couldn't join him anymore. 

 

Sighing, she gathered her things and exited the dorm. She debated whether to look for Taehyung for a bit but then she saw a bulletin of BTS schedule and it said they were on a meeting with a PUMA. Jennie sent a simple thank you to Taehyung after she got back to their studio.

Then she drowned herself with practice and recording, hopefully it will make her forget the image of Jimin kissing his lover passionately.

 

TO BE CONTINUED:


	5. Beers and Jenga

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jennie and Taehyung answer questions while they drunkenly (clumsily) play jenga.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello. I'm a first-rate bizz for leaving this story like this. In my defense, I wasn't sure if anyone was interested in it and I lost all motivation after school started. Dealing with 32 Grade five pupils will do that to you. However, I recently got my muse back, in the form of NaruSasuNaru fanfiction and decided I need to keep this story going before starting another one. For those who have commented, thank you so much for reading my work. I have to continue for you and I will continue for you. :)

The next days of Jennie’s pathetic life were spent either pathetically binge eating or even more pathetically destroying her health by wasting it away on intense dance practice. Her band mates were already well-informed on what transpired between her and Jimin and what will never ever transpire between them anymore. Jennie plucked out her earbuds and exhaled loudly, her face scrunched into angry wrath as she spat at the mirror in the gym.

“He’s gay?” Jennie scowled and beside her, Lisa scowled in return but directed at her sweaty pathetic figure. 

“Jennie, he’s gay.” Lisa said, exasperation clear in her voice. “He’s G.A.Y. And there’s nothing we can do about it. You already said you want him to be happy. Dick makes him happy. You don’t have a dick. End of story.”

“I know but…” Jennie started limping at the available bench in the gym and like a withered flower, literally collapsed down atop it. “He’s gay.”

Lisa preferred not to respond anymore because Jennie has a tendency to repeat her first love’s sexual orientation so much these days that she sounds like one of Bigbang’s hook lyrics by the manner in which she blurts it out anywhere and anytime. When Lisa appeared not to humor her anymore, Jennie looked up at the ceiling and replayed the mental image of Jimin sitting on Yoongi’s lap, very well naked thank you very much, and felt her stomach sink like THE black hole itself. Why? When? And how long?

Taehyung said it was only a year ago since Jimin started dating Yoongi. How about back then? Was her thing with Jimin every truly was a thing or she’s just a pathetic assuming bitch? It kills to think that for all Jennie had held on to the idea of Jimin, it will never happen. Because as much as Jennie made herself believe that she chose her career, at the deepest corner of her desire, so deep you will need a scuba suit to dig it, she was still hoping that after the no-dating policy has been lifted from her contract, she and Jimin would still be together. No matter how childish she sounded, it was what kept her going sometimes when the loneliness became too much.

After five more minutes of celebrating her misery, Jennie bid Lisa goodbye for a second to buy herself a frappe. Gym was clearly not helping take her mind off Jimin so food it is then.

She walked the familiar steps towards her favorite café robotically, ordered her favorite frappe and sat beside the glass mirror again. She was in the middle of replaying Jimin’s face again for the thousandth time when a stranger sat in front of her. It took her to process Jungkook’s uncertain face before she could utter a ‘Hi’.

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to interrupt you.” Jungkook started saying, his cheeks flushing a bright pink as she continued staring at him blankly. “I just didn’t expect to run with you here again.”

Jennie shrugged. “I love this café.”

Jungkook fidgeted when she didn’t add anymore to her statement. “You look sweaty. Did you come from the gym?”

“Yeah.”

“Frappe’s really bad for your though. Too much sugar.”

“I know.”

Jungkook sighed. “I’m really bothering you, right?”

“Not really.”

“I should leave.”

“If you want.”

“I don’t really want to leave.” Jungkook said slowly, his tone careful and eyes scrutinizing her bored expression. “But you might want me to leave.”

“Then do what you want.” Jennie rolled her eyes.

They fell into silence then. Jungkook settled down in the chair and begun playing with his phone while Jennie continued to sip her frappe. She studied Jungkook’s face and tried to pinpoint every aspect that changed since he was just a trainee. Clearly, he changed just as much as Jimin but whereas Jimin kind of held unto his child-like innocence externally, Jungkook grew up to be a man. Now, Jennie only briefly took up Genders classes in school but she could see that Jungkook leans towards the hegemonic type of masculinity. 

“Why are you staring at me?” Jungkook said stiffly once he noticed her stare.

“Nothing. Did you know Jimin’s gay?”

“What?” Jungkook spluttered and his eyes darted anxiously around. “Don’t say that here.”

Jennie clamped her mouth shut. “Okay.”

Jungkook ran a hand through his face. “I know. Everyone in the company knows.”

“How long?” Jennie tried to keep the hurt from her voice but judging from Jungkook’s face, it still leaked out.

“Since he got together with Yoongi-hyung.”

“How about before then?”

“Probably not.”

“Probably. Why probably?”

“Because he used to have a crush on you?” Jungkook scowled. “When we attended the drama class, remember? He was crushing on you hard. Don’t tell me you didn’t know.”

Jennie did kind of know and hoped but Jimin’s sexuality now was kind of blurring the facts for her. She sniffed, the tears threatening to pool in her eyes again. She didn’t understand why she needed to hear someone validate what she had with Jimin before but it truly didn’t help her feelings. In fact, it only made things worse because at one point in her life, she had a chance. And she lost it.

“Hey now, don’t cry. Please.” Jungkook made a move to get closer to her but Jennie stopped him with her glare.

“Are you stupid?” Jennie snapped. “Do I look like I’m crying?”

“You look like you’re getting there.”

“Shut up.” Jennie stood up abruptly. She needed to leave now before she starts embarrassing herself more. “I’m going back to the gym.”

“Do you want me to walk you?” Jungkook asked.

“No.”

Jennie left Jungkook then and though she knew she was being level-high rude; she could not force herself to care. Today was not turning out to be a good day for her. Frustrated, she took her phone and dialed the number of that person who was becoming her only distraction these past few days.

“Hello, Jennie Kim.” Taehyung cheery voice greeted her as soon as the phone rang.

“Hey, you free?” Jennie asked. “I’m done with gym so we can do the challenge now.”

“Wait.” The phone was muffled, probably by Taehyung’s hand while he shouted to the background ‘Can I leave now?’ before his voice returned. “I’m done. Where do you wanna meet up? Here, there, or in a five-star hotel?” The latter was added with no little amount of suggestiveness.

“Gross.” Jennie made a face. “See you in YG.”

She could almost feel Taehyung’s eyes rolling in the background. “That’s what I said. Be there in 20 min.”

“Make it an hour.” Jennie said. “I need to shower.”

“Okayyy.”

Jennie hung up the phone and quickly made her way to Lisa. She told her she would be meeting up Taehyung in YG Building so after showering together, because that’s what sisters do, they made their way back. At exactly 4:00 pm, Taehyung appeared in the doorway of their practice room carrying a grocery bag full of bottles of beer.

“I’d like to join.” Lisa eyed the beer longingly. “But I promised Rose I’ll come with her to the salon.”

“No one’s asking you to join.” Taehyung answered in a snobbish tone, earning a painful jab from Lisa. “Ouch. Shoo shoo. Go away.”

“Don’t do anything dirty here okay? The cameras are watching!” Lisa shouted before exiting the room.

“You two are so loud.” Jennie commented as she started putting out the stuff from the grocery bag. She took out the bottles of beer, ten in total, and a customized jenga box. “She sent this?”

“Yeah.” Taehyung sat in front of her and leaned back in the mirror behind him. He crossed his ridiculously lenthy legs and proceeded in watching her arrange their materials for today’s challenge of getting  
drunk while answering questions from the jenga.

“Her or his username’s so strange. Bahlalala006600. Who choses stuff like that?”

“Every username is ridiculous to you.” Jennie said and sat across from him. “Ready?”

Taehyung’s one foot made its way to her lap. Jennie glared. “Ready.”

“Are we this close already?” Jennie demanded, but she let the foot stay since she was already too acquainted with Taehyung’s persistent personality. If there was one thing she learned about him since they began the challenges two weeks ago was that what Taehyung wants, he gets it. 

Taehyung sighed exaggeratedly. “Not close enough.”

“Camera.”

“Oh shit.” Taehyung sat up with a start. “I forgot the camera in the car.”

“Ugh.” Jennie flopped back dramatically and waited for Taehyung to return. The man quickly set up the camera beside them and returned to his former position, with his foot making its way back in Jennie’s lap. She let it stay, all too aware that tomorrow, Naver will be full of articles about them and their outstanding chemistry once more. 

“Okay.” Taehyung’s eyes glinted in poorly hidden excitement as he opened two bottle of beer and handed one to Jennie. “Let’s start with two beers then start the jenga.”

“Why two beers? Why can’t we start now?”

“Playing this still sober is boring. Hello, everyone, I’m Taehyung-shi and this is Jennie Kim and today we are back with another dun-dun, couple challenge!”

Jennie couldn’t hold herself back from face palming. “You sound more stupid each day.”

“Don’t take her seriously.” Taehyung winked at the camera. “Stupid is a just a pet name.”

“Please don’t send me hate messages.” Jennie deadpanned, remembering the last time she accidentally insulted Taehyung on-screen and received a lot of angry comments for her vulgar words.

They started with two beer bottles and already, Jennie was kind of feeling drowsy. She was not a good drinker. Her system was only acquainted with sweet beverages not alcohol. Taehyung on the other  
hand, was even more of a bad drinker than her. His words were already slurry and his statements were getting more ridiculous per minute.

“Okay. Let’s do this.” Taehyung stared at the jenga set up, clearly forcing himself to act normal. “Lezzdothis.”

Jennie couldn’t help cackling. “You’re so drunk. Oh my god. You are so bad at this.”

“Shut up.” Taehyung threw her a dirty look before taking one block off. “Okay let’s see how sadistic our director is today. First question.” He squinted at the block where the question was written. Each block was color-coded. White means no question, green has easy questions, yellow has personal questions and red contains mature questions. How much mature, Taehyung intends to find out because he instantly took the red block off.

“Which part of the other’s body do you like most?” Taehyung grinned wolfishly at Jennie. “Heh. Not that mature, I guess. Anyway this is so easy. I like your cheeks the most.”

Jennie made a face.

“Actually, I like you the most.” Taehyung teased and Jennie threw a cap of bottle to his face as a response.

“When do the other appears the most attractive to you?” Jennie read the green block. “Hmm.”

“When?” Taehyung put his hand behind his head, and gazed at her with challenge.

Jennie thought hard. Objectively speaking, Taehyung was a very attractive human being. Clearly, the God spent a long time honing his facial traits and the man backed it up with good gym and healthy  
food. He looks ethereal when he was on stage. The few times Jennie observed him performing, she would admit he owned the crowd. His movements beat in tune of the music naturally, and the way he sings contrast his face. Singing with a deep voice with a stare that could make all angels bow down to him was no easy feat. However, Jennie barely sees that side of Taehyung.

What she sees of Taehyung now was a man slowly but surely parting with his child self. Taehyung was mature in the way that he makes decision responsibly. Once he decides on one thing, there was no turning back and he meets the consequences heads on. He does not do double take. He was in control and it seeps through everyone he meets. Some says he was too friendly but those who knows him closely would know that the main reason why he could befriend anyone he meets was because he does not hold back, does not have anything he should hide and would give his purest self to anyone who wants to befriend him.

However, that was also the reason why he was still a child. He trusts too easily and live life with too little care. As much as he man up for his decisions, his choices of things were scattered and jumbled like puzzle pieces. One minute he was into anime, the next he was listening to classical pieces and bullying Jennie to accompany him to fancy exhibits.

He wears Gucci and Alexander McQueen like a paper doll. The pieces don’t match up but he makes it work, makes it look like a brand suited to him alone. He gets into serious mode whenever he was practicing a line or perfecting a dance but giggle like a toddler when he was hanging out with his friends. Taehyung swore he does not drink but smokes weed at the backseat of his car.

Taehyung appears so confident of himself all the time but right now, he was looking at Jennie like he was running through all the things he could appear attractive with and wondering if it would be enough for her to pick at least one of them.

“Now.”

“What?” Taehyung’s brave front faltered, unsure and confused.

“You look the most attractive to me right now.”

“Jennie Kim, are you suggesting I only look attractive to you when you’re drunk?” He cried, despondent. 

“Next.” Jennie smiled as she dawned her third beer.

“Okay. Rank three idols you find the most ideal partner to be with. Three, Jennie Kim. Two, Jennie Kim. One, Song Hye Kyo.”

“You traitor!” Jennie burst out laughing. “How can I ever compare with Miss Song Hye Kyo?”

Taehyung rolled his eyes. “The only reason she’s not burning me in stake right now for not choosing her as number one is because she has this unhealthy crush on Song Hye Kyo-sunbaenim.”

Jennie perused the set of blocks remaining. Her only safe hope was the red block in the middle. Inhibition lighter than wind because of the alcohol and magnanimous trust with BLive’s team to go through each question, she plucked the red one with little hesitation.

“Give a message to your first love.”

Taehyung’s eyes sharpened. They stared at each other in silence.

“Be happy. You deserve it the most.” Jennie muttered in the end before drinking from her fourth bottle now. She was going through them like a cups of tea.

“Okay. Next.” Taehyung plucked the next red block. He was clearly doing it now spitefully. “When did you realize your attraction towards your partner?” Taehyung paused then glanced at her smugly. 

“When she was dancing to Boombayah on stage and she looked at me while saying ‘I don’t want a boy, I need a man’.” The latter part was sung with exaggerated motion.

“What?” Jennie snapped. “When did I do that?”

“Oh.” Taehyung deflated. “So was it Jungkook?”

“No.” Jennie denied. “And you’re getting this wrong. That was Lisa’s part.”

“No, you sang it one time and you were looking over at us. Jungkook assumed it was him but I know you looked at me. Say it. Sayyy it was me.”

“I’m probably looking at the camera man.”

“She did not mean that.” Taehyung narrowed his eyes at the camera and crawled towards it. “Jungkook, if you’re listening, it was me. I have here all these mirrors and the 2 million watchers as witnesses.  
She’s just too shy to admit it.”

“You’re drunk.” Jennie laughed. “Shut up. Let’s end this now.”

“We still don’t have a winner.”

“I obviously won. You’re thrashing too much now.” Jennie squeezed his cheeks boldly between her hands. “Admit defeat.”

“No.”

“Say it. Jennie Kim won.”

“Nu-uh.” He shook his head, making Jennie squeezed his face harder. 

“You look stupid.” Jennie burst out laughing again at his ridiculous expression, making Taehyung glare. “Look at this.”

After further squabbling, Taehyung finally admitted defeat when he accidentally slapped the blocks down. They said their good bye to the viewers and started cleaning up their mess drunkenly. Jennie finished six bottles and Taehyung had finished four but by the way the latter was professing his thanks to YG staff while Jennie walked him to his car makes you question his alcohol tolerance.

“You drove here alone?” Jennie said in disbelief when they arrived at Taehyung’s empty car. “Why didn’t you bring a driver when you knew we’re going to be drinking?”

“Because I thought I wouldn’t be this drunk.” Taehyung said defensively.

Jennie clicked her tongue disappointingly. “I can drive you to your house. I’m not that drunk.”

“No.” Taehyung said, firm. “I’m not letting your drive. You drank more than me.”

“Fine. I’m gonna look for someone to drive you. Wait here.”

Jennie was about to enter the building again when Taehyung’s stopped her. She looked at his hand to his face. “I just need time. 30 minutes to sober up then I can drive home. Stay here?”

“Here?” Jennie looked around. “In the parking lot?”

“Inside the car of course. Come here.”

She was evidently not in her right mind anymore because she just let Taehyung tugged her inside the vehicle. They sat in the back seat, with Taehyung leaning his head back in the headrest and Jennie  
with her back to the door and her feet up on the space between them.

Jennie stared at Taehyung’s relaxed expression with no reason why other than she has nothing to do. Her blank thoughts were pervaded when Taehyung opened his eyes and glanced at her sideways.

“I heard you and Jungkook saw each other this afternoon.”

“We bumped into each other.” Jennie corrected softly.

“Why didn’t you mention it?” Taehyung asked, a hint of accusation in his voice.

“Why do I need to report that to you? Anyway, Jungkook already did.”

Taehyung scanned her face. “I’m worried.”

“About what?” Jennie said, annoyed.

“I’m worried about Jimin.”

Jennie stiffened. 

“And now I’m worried about Jungkook too.”

“You don’t need to worry about me.” Jennie said coldly. “I’m not a child.”

“You look ugly when you cry. I’m terrified of seeing that ugly face again.”

“It’s not going to happen again. And don’t presume anything about me and Jungkook. Just don’t.”

“You’re saying that because you don’t know Jungkook.” Taehyung frowned. “He likes you.”

“Then tell him I’m not interested.” Jennie thought back to Jungkook’s child-like innocent behavior deep underneath the muscles and found the thought ridiculous. “Maybe you’re just paranoid.”

“He won’t believe me. He’s a very stubborn bunny.” Taehyung covered his eyes with his forearm. “I hate picking fights with my bandmates. They’re my family.”

“Taehyung, no one’s asking you to pick fights with them.” Jennie said.

“You might do though.” Taehyung answered quietly.

Jennie chose not to argue anymore. She did not understand where the conversation was going and frankly, too tired to even try analyzing Taehyung anymore. They waited 30 more minutes and true to his  
words, Taehyung sobered up. 

She waved him goodbye and went inside the building.

TO BE CONTINUED:


	6. Relinquishing a Dream and Starting Another

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jennie lets the idea of Jimin go and welcomes a fancy crush.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helloooo. I let this sit too long in my laptop because no matter how much I wanted the first half revised, it wasn't happening. So I said, fuck it and just let things go happen. I hope things starts to sort itself out soon because I swear, this story is writing its' own self. Anyway, please leave me a comment and feel free to leave suggestions on what challenge you want to see our golden couple do :)

Jennie was slow on the uptake of just how much she and Taehyung flirted on-screen. It was only when Jisoo made her watch the episode again, squealing and cackling around that she realized she openly rode Taehyung’s flirtatious jokes and even initiated too much skin ship. Jennie fervently wish she wouldn’t be put into a situation with anyone under the influence of alcohol again.

She sat up in bed after kicking out Jisoo, not having the appropriate mental equipment to handle her teasing in the morning. Scrolling through her phone with a foggy brain, she went through the comments and couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped her lips with the hilarious ones. She laughed at one comment that said, ‘i feel so attacked when jennie grabbed taehyung’s face like bizz, my fangirl self is yelling no fucking no but my inner pervert mind is yelling go grab a motel huhu idk anymore’. 

Jennie could relate to them on a spiritual level. She used to fangirl so much about Bi Rain and Song Hye Kyo that she would be torn every time if she wanted Rain to kidnap her and do dirty things to her or if she wanted Rain to kidnap Song Hye Kyo instead on a faraway island and do dirty things to her.

Jennie took up a screenshot of a fan that said ‘the way taehyung looks at jennie. he’s looking at her like she’s a complete course of meal’ and sent it to Taehyung. She then browsed Naver, studying whether the episode made an impact on her group’s value because in the end, it was for Blackpink that she was doing this. She was pleased to see hers and Taehyung’s name trending on number one. The article said ‘Jennie and Taehyung: The Most Successful Online Couple This Year’.

A bubble head of Taehyung’s face appeared on her screen, indicating he had seen her screenshot but Jennie waited to see what his reply was, overridden by her interest in the article. She couldn’t help the amusement that she felt while reading. It said that her pairing with Taehyung had quickly garnered millions of followers and they were the most successful pair yet in the online dating challenge. Monster companies were said to already courting both of the couple’s companies for projects and advertisement in order to jump in the bandwagon. 

She took a screenshot of the article again and sent it to Taehyung. She chuckled at Taehyung’s reply to her first screenshot which was a gif of him wiggling his brows suggestively. After chatting with Taehyung about their next challenge which was to wear matching piece for today’s MBC special episode, Jennie quickly got out of bed to join her groupmates in preparing for the event.

They were picked up by their manager at 7 am and was whirled into their ‘misery food’ as they liked to call it. Nothing but proteins and proteins to keep them for the day, Jennie wolfed down her share of tofu and chicken breast before hurriedly squeezing on an ab and leg work out. They finished prepping their body at around 11 am and they practiced their number with their instructor until 12:45 pm. 

Now pumped up, Jennie and her mates ate their lunch before finally heading out to the venue for a dry-run on stage. There were already some fans with their special passes in the stadium when Blackpink arrived. Jennie was dressed in simple Adidas pajamas and oversize sweatshirt as they were briefed by the stage director. They listened to his instructions, where they could enter, how much of the area they could cover and emergency signal if something malfunctioned. 

They were allowed five minutes to practice their dance before they could go to their dressing room and start preparing for the actual event which would be at 8 pm. Jennie took the stage with her groupmates then and begun practicing their number. She was not wearing any black shades today so her eyes must look puffy to the fan cameras filming them.

It was only after they finished their practice that she noticed a boy group standing in the far corner of the crowd. Jennie’s brow raised when she recognized them as BTS without Jimin and Yoongi. If she wasn’t wearing her earbuds, she was sure she would hear them coming because of the fangirls’ loud cries for them.

She saw Jungkook waved at her timidly, his movement stiff and obviously forced while the men beside her laughed. Well, RM, Jin and J-Hope were pushing him around while Taehyung was busy with his phone. She frowned, remembering Taehyung saying that Jungkook likes her. She thought it ridiculous but now she felt awkward, like an older sister with a little boy crushing on her. She waved back with the intent of appearing not a cold-hearted bitch but Taehyung suddenly looked up and locked gazes with her.

Jennie’s hand froze a millisecond in the air but deciding she was not doing anything wrong, dropped her hand and hurried out with her groupmates. It all happened so fast that it left Jennie feeling hot and embarrassed, as if she did something that she was not allowed to.

“What was that?” Rose glanced at her.

“What?” Jennie hurried her pace but her group mates still fell into steps with her.

“Are you and Jungkook closed?” Jisoo frowned.

“No.” 

“Then why did you waved at each other?” Lisa asked, confused.

“We talked...” Jennie said. “Sometimes. Actually, we sometimes bumped into each other in my favorite coffee shop, with that kind Auntie.”

“You shouldn’t have done that.” Rose sighed as they entered their dressing room. “You were caught on several cameras and will probably create rumors.”

“We’re not even friends. Just…acquaintance.” Jennie argued but even she knew it was wrong of her. She was overwhelmed with awkwardness and really did not know how to respond correctly. This was why she hate human interaction and always tried to stay away from it as much as possible.

Lisa hugged her from behind. “All the more reason why you should not have done it. Don’t stress yourself over it though. It doesn’t have enough basis. I’ll do worse with Bambam today to cover it up.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Love ya.” Lisa winked before going to her image stylist.

Jennie tried to reason with herself badly, assuring herself that a wave will not create that much damage. After finishing her make-up, Jennie checked her phone for Taehyung’s chat. They decided this morning to wear matching bracelet and Taehyung was tasked to buy it. They were no chats though.

She went out in the hallway still in her oversized sweatshirt, and went to where he knew BTS’s room was located. There were so many staff littering the hallway that Jennie almost backed out if only a staff didn’t notice her and started ushering her inside. She was instantly greeted by the total mess in the room and wondered how could one group be responsible for it by only occupying the room for a day.

“Ohh…” J-Hope jumped in front of her, already dressed in his fancy clothes. His loud voice stirred the people inside and caused every head to turn in her direction. “Miss Jennie! Me and Jungkook were just talking about you!”

A shoe flew into J-Hope’s direction, landing on his right arm. “Hyung!”

Jennie turned to where Jungkook’s voice was and saw him standing beside a mini-mountain of clothes. His eyes darted uncertainly from her and the space behind her, his awkwardness overriding Jennie’s own. She blushed at the obvious admiration for her. She felt too old to be the subject of a younger’s man attention.

“Hey.” Taehyung sided up to her. She turned to him and noticed he was still in his casual clothes and bare face. Wanting to escape the embarrassing scene, she grabbed his hand and tugged him out. Jennie dragged him to the nearest fire exit, and exhaled in relief.

Cupping her reddening face with her cold hands, Jennie looked up at Taehyung’s towering height. “How did I do?”

“What?” Taehyung asked, bemused.

“How do you think I looked to Jimin? Do I look okay? I want to appear okay to him so he won’t feel guilty or whatever, you know. It must have been unpleasant for him to see a girl cry because of him. It’s not in his nature.”

Jennie waited for Taehyung to answer but he just continued to scowl at her. After a minute of the latter not saying anything, Jennie bought down her hands in confusion. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing’s wrong with me.” Taehyung answered but his ruffled look says a thousand words. “But what’s wrong with you?”

“Are you mad at me right now?” Jennie asked in disbelief.

“Yes.” Taehyung quipped before grabbing her hand suddenly. She felt an object touched her palm and saw an elegant thin gold bracelet upon looking down. Then Taehyung exited, the door banging behind him, leaving Jennie bewildered and a little irritated at the rude treatment.

She returned back to her groupmates soon so she could dawn on her dress for today’s performance. The black Chanel dress hugged her body like second skin. Her jewelries were kept into minimal today to highlight the gold bracelet resting in wrist. Jennie raised her wrist and stared at it level-eyed. It was too simple, too minimalist for Taehyung’s taste. She wondered if he was the one to pick it because it didn’t seem like his style at all. She plans to ask him about it after the event and hope he wouldn’t be in bad mood anymore.

At the back of her mind, she wondered if his hurt sensibilities were somehow connected to the mysterious woman he saw him with before. Jennie opted to ignore the uneasy feeling settling in her stomach at the thought.

The show soon started and Jennie forgot all her worries when the stage lit up around them. Blackpink was undoubtedly a rookie group, but their fire blanketed the entire venue like million stars. They danced to the beat of the music as if it was their last chance to do so and for a while, it felt like it. It would be their last performance before their comeback and they wanted to show the world they are capable of more and beyond the category of Kpop industry.

Lisa was the first one to go down the stage, so hyped and blinded by the euphoria of standing in the middle of thousands of fans. She screamed her words to the mic, a prelude of her new image for their upcoming album. Jennie and Jisoo quickly made their way towards the crowd where Lisa was dancing her hearts out. 

In her eagerness to get close to her fans, Jennie was not able to notice they were near BTS’s table. It was only when Momoland members begun crowding Rose that Jennie saw BTS’s members were standing up too to show their support. Even though Jennie was a little conscious of her gummy smile, she could not help but to grin as J-Hope and Jin started yelling into Jisoo’s mic the chorus of their song.

Taehyung and Jungkook got up too and they danced to the famous moves of the song. Jennie winked at Taehyung, aware that their fans were waiting for some interaction with them. The effect it had on Taehyung though was priceless. He stopped dancing to gawk at her. The reaction threw Jennie for a minute and she thanked the heavens above the lights around the arena was enough to cover her pleased expression.

Fortunately, their stage was finally over. Unfortunately, her embarrassment did not stop there because as BTS took the platforms for their performance, Taehyung made sure to give her a flying kiss. It was all for the show, Jennie knew. Yet for a moment, she forgot it wasn’t so. 

The event ended with every kpop group gathering on stage for a picture. She briefly exchanged a few words with Twice members and got hugged by Seulgi from Red Velvet. Afterwards, Blackpink had some time to wait for their team to pack up before they could finally go home and this time, to their real apartments. Jennie was really forward to this part all day long. The feel of her comfy comforters and silk pajamas on her skin were slowly turning into an ancient story. She longed to revive those feelings again.

She asked Lisa if they could buy some junk foods and shin ramyun noodles to take home. Their presence turned heads while they were on their way to canteen and Jennie reveled from the attention. She silently sent thanks to the BLive production team for building her image well that Blackpink was definitely garnering awareness now from the masses.

As Jennie picked two shin ramyun packets from a tray, Lisa nudged her so hard she stumbled to the side. Her eyes snapped to where Lisa was looking and her lungs collapsed when she saw Jimin standing a few foot away from them. 

He was looking straight at her, the tension clear on his face. Jimin briefly said hello to Lisa before turning to Jennie again. “Can we talk?”

Jennie’s childish rebellion of saying no only lasted a minute. “Okay.”

“Outside?” Jimin inclined his head to the left, towards the door leading to a small patio outside the canteen. They went outside and Jimin instantly leaned his back on the railing while Jennie remained standing with her back straight and tense. 

“I don’t want to explain anything.” Jimin started. “Because between the two of us, I feel I needed the explanation from you the most.”

“For what?” Jennie asked, her tone blank as her defenses built themselves up like lego pieces. “Your explanations are not needed nor is mine.”

“We had something. You can’t just pretend it wasn’t worth a dime of your time. You cried for me. You told me I deserve to be happy. I let you walk away once and we’re not doing it again.”

“You do, Jimin. And you have it. You have Suga.”

“I have.” Jimin’s eyes soften. 

“Then we don’t need to hear anything from each other anymore.” Jennie braced herself for the pinpricks of pain shooting up her chest. 

Jimin eyes stayed at her face, searching for any window of her true emotions but she kept pushing herself on. She hid her feelings for years, it would not be a big deal to do it now even in front of him.  
Then, suddenly, Jimin stood up straight and in a completely unforeseeable event, Jennie found herself caged by his embrace. Her eyes fluttered closed for a second and in that moment, she saw how it could have been if she was brave enough to fight for her heart. 

“I loved you.” Throwing out all her care in the world, Jennie wrapped her arms around him and wished more than anything in the world to be an octopus so he would not ever let go. 

“I loved you too.” Jimin whispered. 

And you love him now.

Just because magic never happens in real life, Jimin begun parting himself away. She almost petulantly holds him back to demonstrate how much she did not appreciate men hugging her without taking responsibility. She was not that hard core though despite the front she put up in the crowd so, with her heart raging rebellion against the unfairness of it, she let him go. He was a beautiful dream once and she already woke up from him. He was a fancy idea that she had been ready to relinquish.

Jennie should have known it was too drama-like and it probably wouldn’t end with Jimin walking from her and disappearing from her life forever because what was the fun in that, right? Her stomach sunk to her feet like a dying fish would do in land when she saw Taehyung looking at them. The expression on his face was enough to make her push Jimin away as if he was an illegal drug she wanted to do nothing with.

“Tae.” Jimin said when his head splashed around, because that was the only word she could describe how fast his reaction was. The color started going back to his face though when he realized it was only his friend. Jennie squinted at him with suspicious eyes. Was he scared it would be Suga? Well, she would be scared too. She was terrified now.  
Although she does not need to be.

Taehyung continued regarding them with an uncanny emotionless façade. Too emotionless for it to be real. “What are you doing?”

Jimin beamed at him. “We were just talking.”

“Talking.” Taehyung deadpanned.

“I should probably leave.” Jennie straightened her blouse, just so she could do something with her hands. “Bye.”

Taehyung grabbed her hand roughly. “We need to talk too. Yoongi-hyung was looking for you Jimin.”

Jimin paled again. “When or just now?”

“For a long time. Very long time. Since you disappeared.”

Jimin started releasing colorful very explicit curses then bolted off. Jennie almost had an heart attack at the unexpected change of behavior of her angel when strong arms suddenly pulled her close. For the second time that evening, Jennie found herself embraced by a second man. This was probably the most she has ever been touch in all her twenty-two years of existence.

“What the fuck.” She spluttered, face reddening in rapid speed. “What are you doing?”

“Talking to you.” Taehyung answered in a nonchalant tone but his grip on her constricted even more.

“This is not talking.” Jennie snapped and pushed the man away. She expected resistance honestly, but Taehyung only stepped back coolly. He looked regal, hands on his pocket and towering above her with that arresting features of his. She nearly screamed for sexual harassment if only the world would not laugh at her.

“What the fuck is your problem?” Jennie demanded, still ruffled at the sudden contact. They were friends, yes. They put each other’s feet on each other’s lap. Some side hugging, holding hands and friendly touches but not outright full body hug. Somewhere out there, a line was being seriously cross.

“I’m trying to understand.” Taehyung said. “Why you’re letting anyone close to you when you look at everyone with disdain all the time.”

“What?”

“One, you’re projecting yourself into this untouchable persona then the next second I’m seeing you hug just about anyone.”

“Are you saying I’m a whore?” Jennie asked, a dangerous touch curling in her voice and judging by Taehyung’s flinch, he felt the shift in her mood.

“I’m not saying that.” Taehyung’s face finally reflected an emotion she was so familiar with. He rubbed his face in frustration. “I told you, I’m not good at sharing.”

“I’m not yours to share.”

“You are.” He looked about ready to debate but deflated in the last second at Jennie’s raised brow. “Or until this program is over.”

“Fine.” Jennie suppressed rolling her eyes. “I get it. Nothing happened anyway, we were just talkin—“

“That was not talking!”

“It won’t happen again. We just...” Jennie racked her brain for words to explain what occurred between her and Jimin but it was too complex for mere words. “Understood each other.”

Taehyung’s eyes sharpened. “Understood what?”

Jennie sighed then begun walking away. “See ya.”

“Remember what I said!”

Taehyung yelled. She let a smile slip through her lips when she was sure he would not be able to see it.

TO BE CONTINUED...


End file.
